Where Did You Not Retire To?

[Midpack]

We seriously considered retiring to San Diego CA and for many years we fully expected to retire to Mystic CT. Real estate/COL, taxes, future water issues (CA) or winters (CT) changed our minds. For those who expect to substantially relocate (another state?), any significant changes in retirement relocation plans like us?

 

[Dtail]

We gave some serious thought to retiring to Mexico for around 5 years, but just couldn't pull the trigger.

 

[Jerry1]

We thought we’d head south like Knoxville or Asheville. Then our kid settled down in MI and the grandkids came and there was just no way we were leaving family, not to mention some close friends. I’ve thought about doing the snowbird thing but the budget’s a little tight to do that. Plus, I’d like to only do a month or two and it’s hard to get a rental for that amount of time. We’ll see. Someday maybe.

 

[W2R]

We didn't retire to Springfield, Missouri despite serious and detailed planning to do so, multiple visits, going to real estate open houses up there, and so on.

We changed our minds after our houses were on the market and getting offers (in 2010), because Frank, a New Orleans native, had a sudden and unexplainable strong feeling we shouldn't move. His instincts usually pan out so I decided to go with the flow and not insist on moving.

So, we no longer plan to relocate, barring the unforeseen. By that I mean that unexpected future events such as "Katrina II", crime worsening even further in New Orleans (is it possible?), unexpected death of one of the two of us, or who knows what, could inspire an interstate move. But for right now, we plan to stay put indefinitely.

Life presently seems pretty good, right here. I wish I had been this happy when I was young! I never expected that life would get so much better as I got older.

P.S. - - staying put has the advantage of not having to pay through the nose for an interstate move. Plus, we can avoid the common mistake of the elderly: overdoing during a move (even with movers or friends to help), becoming physically and emotionally trashed, and sometimes not recovering for years, if ever. I barely managed to move 3 miles into my Dream Home next door to Frank; never expected that to be even the least bit challenging, but it was rugged IMO. So glad I didn't wait since I'm not getting any younger.

 

[braumeister]

Having lived all over the country as well as many other countries, I've always been very flexible. But there are also some areas I've always thought I might enjoy more than where we are.

Every time I've raised the issue, DW has been cautiously willing to consider it, but the fact is that she has lived in this area all her life, has all her friends here, and would most likely be devastated to leave. I understand that, and since I'm really pretty happy here I'm OK with staying.

Now I've lived here far longer than any other place, so I guess it's home. Fortunately for me, DW enjoys traveling as much as I do, so we do a lot of it. I find that really makes up for any minor shortcomings of our home area.

 

[njhowie]

We decided against ... everywhere, and to just stay put. We love our home, we love our location, don't want the hassle of relocating and starting over. Yeah, we live in a HCOL area, and the house is larger than what we need, but the money we could save living somewhere else would not compensate for what we'd lose.

 

[Walt34]

I guess we're going to be WV residents for the foreseeable future. DW does not want to entertain any thoughts of moving farther from family (in fact today she's baby-sitting the new grandniece) and she enjoys stuff like that so much she'd be miserable elsewhere. And aside from coldest winter months which are only two or three months, I'm content to stay right where we are. And in those two or three months I just figure on going into "hibernation mode" which means lots of movies at home, building R/C airplanes, and whatever inside projects on the house need doing.

 

[JRon]

Not quite the same thing, but we planned on having 2nd home in Tucson for winter months. Kids and grandkids changed our mind. We do rent for a couple weeks in AZ in January or February for a warm weather visit.

 

[MichaelB]

Our retirement plan A was Caracas, where we had our permanent residence, DWs family and network of friends. That country is no longer habitable, it and our plan both went down the toilet.

We now live in Florida, and still talk occasionally about moving, but with less conviction. We’ve lived at our current S Fl address for almost a decade and a half, and even discounting the seasonal time spent elsewhere (almost half) it’s still the longest I’ve spent at any address in my life.

I wouldn’t mind living elsewhere, but have absolutely no desire to move.

 

[MRG]

We didn't move to the pacific northwest, nor Florida, Texas, or the front range like we wanted to. We finally gave up and just figured we'd stay in KC and travel around. First trip was where we now called home.

 

[geeky_grrl]

I had originally thought we would relocate someplace further south than we currently are in Oregon - we have taken visits to NW Arkansas, Eastern Tennessee, and Western North Carolina. I've ruled out going to the southeastern US now though because of the low vaccination rates.

I haven't decided for sure if we will stay in the Pacific Northwest or if we will go move to Colorado or New Mexico for more sunshine.

 

[swakyaby]

My parents were both born in Hawaii, DF in Kauai, DM in Oahu. They came to California to start a family because he was a civil engineer and jobs were more plentiful on the mainland. They both wanted to retire back in Hawaii but couldn’t agree on the island. Each wanted to return to the island they grew up on, so they remained in California.

When DF passed, I asked DM if she was going to finally retire in Oahu and be near her sisters and brothers. She said no, that home is where her children are. I think if you are in a place long enough, it can become really hard to change, even if for the better.

 

[tb001]

We left the Bay Area and relocated to SoCA. We were looking all over the warmer areas of the US. I really wanted to look seriously at NC and SC, specifically Charleston and Hilton head areas, but we had a 6 month old, so location scouting trips were hard. Being able to easily fly back and forth same day to look at houses was pretty key when buying. Then DH decided he wasn’t done with the west coast.

I miss the Bay Area a lot, but it was the right decision for us to leave at the time. My hope is that when the kids are older we can do 1-2mo trips to the Carolinas and other areas. With an aging mom in the PNW, I’m glad we’re still close enough for an easy flight.

 

[friar1610]

We were living in a suburb of Baltimore, MD (Baltimore County) when I retired from the military. My “second career” jobs were reasonably accessible from there and my wife had a job she liked in Baltimore City. When she finally called it quits it would have been easy to remain there. We liked the area well enough, it gave us good access to BWI Airport and to cultural and sporting events we enjoyed in both Baltimore and DC, we had doctors, repair men and all the other support we needed in place. One of our two adult daughters lived nearby. But, as New Englanders originally, we had always wanted to settle back there. So within a year of my wife’s leaving her job, we relocated back north, first to Vermont and eventually to Massachusetts. Our other daughter was in VT/MA and eventually the daughter in MD moved to Boston. It was the right decision in our case but, had we stayed in MD, I’m sure we would have done fine there too. But this area just feels more like where we’re meant to be.

 

[grasshopper]

Well we didn't retire to St. Michaels, MD on the eastern shore, and we didn't retire to Ocean Springs MS across the bay from Biloxi. Spent time around both places in our 30's and 40's.

After 7 relocations we settled in the east valley of Phoenix, but it became way to crowded for us.

We love the desert, the mountains, and wilderness just 1/4 mile from our home.

Now 16 years of living in southern AZ in a small village community, and still being amazed that we are here.

 

[Pellice]

I seriously thought about SW Florida. I love the subtropical climate, the heat and humidity, the storms in the afternoon. The sequence of hurricanes a few years ago followed by undeniable climate change issues have caused me to reconsider. I cannot fathom how Florida will deal with the demands of climate change - raising infrastructure everywhere, drinking water incursion, seawalls, community and individual insurance, retrofitting - without subtantially raising taxes and insurance premiums. I guess the state is borrowing the money right now, as Florida is at this moment still one of the lower tax states, even as I read about hundreds of millions being spent on hardening infrastructure.

 

[Ginny]

We decided to leave San Diego, CA. Although we loved the perfect weather and lived 1 mile to the beach in a nice neighborhood, we could see Mexico from our home. We are so glad we moved to a small, but growing town in South Carolina. It is much safer here.

 

[Dash man]

We were going to retire to Florida, and we have a condo down there. But we’ve decided to stay in Pennsylvania. Grandkids change how you look at life. [emoji4]

 

[FlaGator]

I seriously thought about SW Florida. I love the subtropical climate, the heat and humidity, the storms in the afternoon. The sequence of hurricanes a few years ago followed by undeniable climate change issues have caused me to reconsider. I cannot fathom how Florida will deal with the demands of climate change - raising infrastructure everywhere, drinking water incursion, seawalls, community and individual insurance, retrofitting - without subtantially raising taxes and insurance premiums. I guess the state is borrowing the money right now, as Florida is at this moment still one of the lower tax states, even as I read about hundreds of millions being spent on hardening infrastructure.

You have details on the extent of the borrowing to support the hundreds of millions on hardening infrastructure? I’ve lived in FL since the late 90’s and haven’t read anything about that.

 

[38Chevy454]

When we retired and were going to move from NM, we looked strongly at Grand Junction CO, and also at Prescott AZ. But ultimately we moved to be near DW's family and where she grew up - Cincinnati OH.

We both liked western slope of CO, I think if the family aspect hadn't been as big of factor for DW, that's where we would have settled in retirement.

Now we are considering a FL winter place. Still keeping current house as home, just looking to escape the cold winter weather.

 

[Out of Steam]

We didn't retire to the Delaware shore, or to several different areas in Southeastern PA. Two of the Pennsylvania areas proved too expensive, and limited medical care was the biggest issue in Delaware. Flooding in this very flat region near the ocean was also an issue.

 

[Bamaman]

It's nice to read about how blood is thicker than water. So many retirees like to live in their retirement years close to family for many reasons. And that often is where they've lived in their last few years prior to ER. There's certainly nothing wrong with familiarity with one's community.

We are fortunate that our families lived in ultra LCOL places, and we find it so much easier living where life is so affordable. Low home prices and taxation afforded us to retire 7-8 years early. It's not bad having a 7 mile sunset water view out our front door. And two Robert Trent Jones championship golf courses down the street and another RTJ course within sight of our yard helps with the quality of life.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I have lived in 5 states and have been in Reno 24 years. I love it here and would never leave. The weather is great and I love the mild 4 seasons. Fires causing smoke is the only negative. 2 of my 3 kids live here and I have a good support network of good friends.

 

[plex]

I seriously considered Chattanooga, TN. Low taxes, low cost of living, good internet, and was a barely one-day drivable distance to my parents. Seemed a pretty good place to work from home then retire. Then I realized, there is an active nuclear power plant so close to the city that it is almost IN the city, one of the very few cities in the US with a plant so close, wasn't for me considering something like 1/100 of those plants have caused a bunch of horrible deaths, a 20-50 mile area to become uninhabitable around them, and they are being re-commissioned for longer than they were designed.

 

[Alan]

The first place we considered after retiring was Colorado so we rented a house in the “banana belt” for a month during May. Really enjoyed it but decided the winter would not be to our taste.

The 2nd year we rented a house in Yorkshire, loved it but too far away from our kids in the USA.

The 3rd year we thought Pacific North West, our daughter lived there and we spent 6 weeks there including a month at Friday Harbour. Really liked it but too wet for our liking, and this was the summer. On the way back we spent a few weeks in Utah and met a guy from Ireland who said there was no place like Donegal.

The 4th year we tried out Donegal, renting a place there for a month. Great place, great people but again too far from our children.

The 5th year we decided to give Australia a try. We have friends and relatives, including my brother, in 3 different locations and had visited them twice before. We spent 6 months there including a month in MacKay, Queensland, 3 weeks in Melbourne and a month in Hobart, Tasmania. We felt that we could definitely live in Australia except it was even further from our children in the USA.

The 6th year we tried Canada. Plenty of relatives in Winnipeg and Toronto and we’d visited Toronto before and decided it was too built up and busy. We spent 3 weeks in Vancouver, 3 weeks in Sidney, Vancouver Island and a month in Canmore just outside of Banff. While in Canmore our son came to visit for a week and another week our relatives from Winnipeg came to stay for a few days. We decided we couldn’t take the winters. It even snowed while we were there in July while our son was visiting from Texas.

We then thought we would spent summers in Yorkshire and winters in Texas but after 6 weeks we decided that the kids would have to manage without us and we bought a house and moved permanently to England because this was the place we could really see us growing old. A year later our son moved here and loves it, that was 4 years ago. Our daughter plans to move to Adelaide Australia in a few years with her American-Australian husband so we’ll see how her plans pan out.